Still climbing on my walk this week, I reached the first gate I needed to open. Loving the sound of gates, I just had to record it and of course that popular seasonal sound of dry Autumn leaves as the crunch underfoot.

Shadow of a Gate
Goppa Gate
My walk this week is a local circular walk and anyone living in the area should recognise just from the glimpse of the road sign in the first image, exactly where it is. The walk is a very enjoyable one that provides both exertion on the climb uphill and peace and tranquility in the valley return.
As with my StillWalks videos I have not identified where the walk is to anyone who doesn’t already know it because the location is not relevant. It is the sights and sounds and the signs of the season that I enjoy on my walks and in that respect this first post for my walk this week are the walls alongside the footpath that were of particular interest to me.
Heading back to Blackpill in Swansea Bay on my walk this week with the Swansea Health and Wellbeing Walk I looked out across the bay from time to time and enjoyed the colours in the sea and sky. The weather being good and Autumn not being too far advance at that time, there were still many green leaves on the trees and the sunlight shining through them created some beautiful overlapping patterns.
The path we followed on the Swansea Health and Wellbeing Walk is divided like many others into separate areas for walkers and cyclists. It is a very useful thing for cyclists to have bells on their bikes – most useful to the walkers. So thanks to all those many cyclists using this path during our walk for warning us that you were there as it is easy to stray from one part of the path to the other. With the noise of traffic on a busy road, the bells become essential!
My walk this week with the Swansea Health and Wellbeing Walk moved from the cycle path to the promenade before reaching the 360 Beach and Watersports Centre at St Helen’s. The old bridge in the image gallery below may seem out of place beside the other photos but this is the old Victorian St. Helen’s bridge that used to span Oystermouth Road a few yards from where the 360 cafe is situated. Not wanting to dispose of the bridge altogether (presumable with the intention of reinstating it when finances allow), the bridge has been sitting by the side of the road for some years now.